Step-by-step guide to composting

You breakdown composting at home into four steps:

• what you can compost
• where you should put your compost bin (or heap)
• how to make compost
• how to use compost

You can compost a surprising amount of household waste. For best results, use a mixture of ingredients. The right balance is something you learn by experience, but a rough guide is to use equal amounts by volume of greens and browns.

Green waste for composting includes:

• grass cuttings
• uncooked fruit
• vegetable peelings
• cuttings and prunings
• young weeds
• teabags and coffee grounds

Brown waste for composting includes:

• cardboard (for example cereal packets and loo roll tubes)
• woody prunings
• paper (for example junk-mail and bags)
• hedge trimmings
• straw or vegetarian pet-bedding

Some things, like grass mowings and soft young weeds, rot quickly. They work as 'activators', getting the composting started, but on their own will decay to a smelly mess.

Older and tougher plant material is slower to rot but gives body to the finished compost. And usually makes up the bulk of a compost heap. Woody items decay very slowly; they are best being chopped or shredded first, where appropriate.

You can also compost wood-ash (in small amounts), egg shells, and natural fibres like wool, cotton or hair.

Meat, dairy and cooked food can attract vermin and should not be home-composted. The same goes for cat litter, dog poo or nappies.

You don't have to have a compost bin to get started, you could have a compost heap with a cardboard or plastic cover. However, bins are much neater and often easier to manage.

You can build your own bin. Garden Organic have a guide to building your own bin, or you could buy one, making the most of local discounts on a variety of different compost bins.

Whatever you go for, remember these top tips. Make sure your bin is:

• easy to access
• has a lid or cover
• has no big gaps in the sides
• in a sunny or semi-shaded place
• on turf or soil

There are lots of ways to make compost and it will depend on the type of waste you will be putting in it.

The simplest way is to just keep adding your waste as and when you feel like it. As long as you have a good mix of greens and browns it will compost eventually.

A 'cool' compost method is a simple way of creating compost by adding layers of material and leaving the bin to work it's magic. A 'hot' compost method will produce compost much quicker, but does require extra work. You can view how to do both types of composting on Garden Organic.

It can take as much as a year or as little at 6 weeks to make compost, the more effort you put in the less time it takes.

When it's ready to use it should all be a dark brown colour, with a mild earthy smell. It should be moist like a damp sponge, you can add water if it is too dry, or more dry material it it's too wet.

You can either store it (as it will get better with age) or use it straight away. It's a great soil-improve dug into your beds or pots and it is a great mulch to spread around plants to hold in moisture.

If you have any problems, you can view the RHS website for troubleshooting.

Remember there are fantastic discounts for Buckinghamshire residents on new compost bins and caddy liners.

Learn more on our free composting course.